- ELITEXC CANCELS SEPT 20 EVENT IN NEW MEXICO

by Ken Pishna – MMAWeekly.com
EliteXC on Friday cancelled its Sept. 20 event planned for The Pit in Albuquerque, N.M. and broadcast on premium cable network Showtime, a source close to the network confirmed to MMAWeekly.com.

The event was to be headlined by hometown fighter Joey Villasenor and reportedly include the promotion’s first 140-pound title bout, pitting Wilson Reis against Bao Quach.

A bout between current EliteXC 170-pound champion Jake Shields was also in the works, but his planned opponent, John Alessio, recovering from a broken arm, would not have time to prepare for the Sept. 20 date.

EliteXC also has the third installment of its CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights scheduled for Oct. 4, featuring Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano. With an event of that magnitude and several other mixed martial arts brands under the ProElite/EliteXC umbrella – including Cage Rage, King of the Cage, Spirit MC, Icon Sport, and Rumble on the Rock – it is believed that it may have been deemed more crucial to focus efforts on the CBS event than spread those efforts thin across several events.